Just Passing By
by Menamebephil
Summary: Zuko wants to reconnect with Mai. Mai wants to teach Zuko a lesson about consequences. Sokka just wants everyone to concentrate on winning this stupid war already.


He found her perched on the snapped stump of a column, still as a statue and so hidden in the gloom that he could almost have mistaken her for a shadow. As he approached, her eyes flicked impassively to him, once, before turning back to the courtyard fountain.

He guessed he deserved that. But still, would it kill her to talk to him? They'd been through enough together in the Boiling Rock, right? Saving each other's lives should at least count for something.

Well, now that he thought about it, she'd saved _his_ life. He'd just forced her to go on the run with him. Saving her from danger he'd put her in, even inadvertently, probably didn't count for much.

"So…" he said, as nonchalantly as he could muster. "What are you looking at?"

She didn't respond, and he told himself it didn't sting. She'd never exactly been communicative. Something else they had in common. So he let his eyes follow hers, across the ruined courtyard to the fountain. To the two figures in blue, doing the laundry.

The Water Tribe siblings were too far away to make out what they were saying, but Zuko could hear the echoing chatter as the pair worked, Sokka holding up sodden clothes as Katara pulled the water out of them.

Zuko's brow wrinkled as Sokka started laughing at something. Katara flicked him with a plume of water, and he fell backwards, still laughing. Katara's arms folded, in mock indignation.

"I don't get it," he said, worried that he did.

"Do you ever wonder," Mai finally said, "if we're somehow completely messed up?"

Zuko didn't have a sensible answer to that.

Stripped to his waist, sweat prickling his shoulders in the oppressive heat of the afternoon, Sokka pulled Space Sword up into a guard and swung again, neatly bisecting an imaginary firebender at the hip, moving smoothly through the motions.

The Boiling Rock had been a definite sign that he needed to get better at this, and in a hurry, because, in spite of his best efforts, Azula was still extremely alive. He wished he could believe that that wasn't going to be a major problem.

As his movements slowed, and his pattern came to an end, he got the sudden feeling that he was being watched. Blinking sweat out of his eyes, he sheathed Space Sword and drew himself up, glancing around him.

"Hello? Anyone there?" he called. "Aang, if that's you, I don't know why Appa's yelling like that, and I don't know who would, okay?"

There was no answer, but, as he moved over to where he had left his shirt, he noticed that someone had left a cup of what, on careful inspection, turned out to be water.

"Is this anyone's? Hello? Because if not I'm drinking it? Okay?"

When no answer was forthcoming, he shrugged, and drank.

"Well, thanks, mysterious water deliverer."

From her corner, well hidden, Mai began to get an idea.

"You want to learn swordfighting?" Sokka asked, visibly taken aback. "I mean… sure, I'll give you some pointers."

Mai waited, placidly, hands tucked neatly into their sleeves, unconsciously standing so as to take up as little space as possible, as Sokka looked around the courtyard thoughtfully.

"Did you want to start now?"

Mai shrugged a careful fraction of an inch, indicating that she didn't have anything better to do right at this exact moment. Sokka nodded, either in understanding or out of nervous tension, she wasn't entirely sure yet.

"Okay, so… we don't really have that much paper to spare, so…" he cast about with his eyes until he glanced at the firepit, scampering over to it, he plucked a half-burnt stick out, and handed it to her, unburnt end towards her hand.

She took it with all the visible enthusiasm of a tiger-trout being presented with a carrot, as Sokka dropped to his knees, and wiped a patch of flagstone at least clear of the more obvious dust.

"Alright!" he exclaimed, brushing dirt from his knees as he stood up. "So, first lesson: sign your name."

If he was fishing for a reaction, he almost actually got one. Mai's eyebrow made a spirited attempt at twitching archly upwards.

"Don't look at me like that," Sokka said. "This is step one, trust me."

Mai, unaware that she had been looking at him like anything in particular, settled cross-legged on the floor (it wasn't as though her clothes could actually get any dirtier than they had gotten) and raised the charcoal stick.

Sokka maneuvered around to look over her shoulder as she wrote, a series of precise strokes slashed on the stone floor, etching out _Mai_.

"Huh," he said, thoughtfully, as she sat back, setting the stick down. "That's how you write your name? It's pretty."

Mai _did_ raise an eyebrow at that, but only because he couldn't see her face. Sensing that perhaps more might be expected of him, Sokka cleared his throat, stepping back slightly as Mai rose from the floor.

"Yeah I'll be honest, I still don't think I get this one. Still, it was the first thing Master Piandao had me do, so I guess it must be good for something?"

The eyebrow almost broke entirely free of Mai's control at the namedrop, but Sokka didn't seem like he noticed.

"Still, uh, I guess I'm the teacher here, so… I'm gonna call this one a pass! Congratulations, good first lesson. You've got very nice calligraphy."

A smirk, unbidden, twitched at the corner of her mouth. She let it. It couldn't hurt.

"Great job, now, shoo. I got nothing more for the minute. Let me go find some good sticks for the next lesson. If you feel like helping I think Aang said something about Appa getting a toothache."

The next day, when Mai stepped into the courtyard, looking for her new teacher, Sokka threw a stick at her.

She caught it easily, noting that it had been crudely carved into a rough approximation of a sword. He grinned, and hefted one of his own. She glanced behind him, where his actual sword was propped up against the wall, surrounded by a pile of wood shavings.

"Alright," he said, setting his shoulders confidently. "Let's see what we're working with, huh?"

She very nearly smirked.

"Okay," Sokka huffed, bent double, "for reference? Usually the teacher is supposed to win _way_ more convincingly than that."

Mai frowned, nursing her bruised fingers, as she went to retrieve her training sword from the corner Sokka's strike had flung it to.

"Still," he said, "I think I know where we're at a little better now, so I should be able to put up a better fight next time. But you are _ridiculously_ fast, you know? I'm really glad you're not trying to kill us any more."

Mai acknowledged the compliment with a small nod, and a sideways smile that slid off her face when she saw who was darkening the doorway behind Sokka.

Sokka, glancing over his shoulder, waved happily to Zuko, tactfully ignoring or possibly completely failing to notice the look on his face. Turning back to Mai, he nodded to her.

"Alright, I'll clear out. Good session, go see Katara about your hand, she'll fix it up."

And with that, he was gone. Zuko shuffled awkwardly towards her. Her jaw tightened.

"He hurt you?" Zuko said, softly, neatly managing to obliterate any desire she had to make up with him for another day.

"Training, Zuko. We hit each other with sticks," she replied, icily.

Zuko scowled. "Training. Right. And since when have _you_ been interested in swordfighting?"

Less than a week, but right this moment Mai would have rather bitten her own tongue off than admitted it. She let her eyes narrow, reminding Zuko that he was on thin ice.

Zuko, unfortunately, was still a world champion in not taking a hint, and continued.

"I know what this is _really_ about."

"Hmm," she replied, noncommittally.

"Yeah. You're trying to needle me. Make me sweat." He looked equal parts smugly triumphant and infuriated. "You want me to be _jealous_."

There was a moment where Mai didn't even breathe.

"Zuko," she said, when she could trust her voice not to shake. "You dumped me. Not everything I've done since then has been pining. Maybe," she continued, briskly, as she turned away, "I've just moved on. Not wanting you dead isn't the same thing as wanting you back."

She didn't wait around to hear what he'd say to explain himself. She had a waterbender to find.

The wooden swords clattered together, Sokka attempting to push Mai back to the wall.

It was, she was finding, weirdly relaxing, practising with Sokka. He was just good enough that she had to _concentrate_. Target practice had been too rote, too, safe, and she'd found her mind wandering. Here she-

Too late, she snapped back to reality as Sokka's leg scythed her ankles out from under her, and she fell back to the stone, hard.

Vaguely, from somewhere above, she could hear the sounds of Sokka crowing in delight. She exhaled, slowly, and waved away his hand when he turned to help her up. It was surprisingly comfy on the floor, now the ceiling had stopped spinning.

She was a little surprised when Sokka flopped down next to her, stretching out with his hands knitted together behind his head. As though reading her mind, he explained, with a yawning drawl.

"See, this way it looks like we're just relaxing. You don't look like you got knocked on your rear by a guy who is _way_ less dangerous than you are, and I don't get yelled at by Katara for knocking the newest member of the team onto her rear."

Mai tilted her head at that, and fixed him with one open eye. He grinned, languidly.

" _Waterbenders_ ," he said, with a martyred sigh, chest rising and falling. "They don't get the whole hand-to-hand combat thing. She tends to keep all her training at arms' length."

Mai felt the rare need to comment.

"I'm pretty sure I keep most of my fighting at way more than arms' length."

Sokka conceded this with a sharp bark of laughter.

"Yeah, but we're working on that, aren't we?"

There was a sharp knock on Mai's door as she was getting ready for bed one evening, and without waiting for an answer, the door swung outwards and Katara stepped through.

"We need to have a talk," she said, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe, with all the grace of a thunderhead. Mai, in accordance with the most fundamental rules of politeness, put the knife down.

"Well, I guess what I mean is _I_ have to talk to _you_ ," Katara clarified. "You just need to listen."

Mai inclined her head, gently, to indicate that Katara should get on with it.

Katara did so, setting her shoulders. "Okay. So. I've seen the way you've been looking at Sokka. And," she continued before Mai could decide whether or not to react, "and that's _fine_ , even though it'd be nice if we could go ten minutes without someone getting inappropriately infatuated with him-"

Okay _that_ might need clarification-

"-But," she said, sternly. "But I've also noticed the ... _whatever_ it is between you and Zuko." She injected enough venom into the Prince's name that even Mai was momentarily impressed. "So what I'm saying is… if you're thinking of _using_ Sokka, just trying to get at Zuko through him, I will _end_ you." She smiled, humourlessly, eyes locked with Mai's.

After a moment of careful thought, Mai nodded, in acknowledgement. Katara beamed.

"Alright. Good talk." As she turned to go, something more occurred to her. "You're a lot harder to threaten than Zuko was, you know?"

Mai snorted in honest amusement. But not until she was sure the waterbender was out of earshot.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Mai groused, as she followed Sokka's hand through the temple, eyes, indeed, screwed shut, at his insistence.

"Nope!" he replied. "And be thankful we're only going a few rooms over. I had to hike up a mountain with a blindfold on. It was _terrible_."

"Well can you at least not lead me over every rock and step? If I break my nose I'm blaming you when Katara asks."

Sokka only laughed, and the tug on her arm slowed as he stopped. "Okay, we're here. Now, open your eyes."

Mai did so. They were in another wide platform yawning over the edge of the canyon, looking even more dilapidated than the slice of the temple that the Avatar Gang had colonised-

Suddenly Sokka was spinning her around to face the wall, and pressing a sheet of paper and a brush into her hand.

"Alright!" he said. "Now, draw it. _Without_ turning around again."

She fixed him with a look. But she knew he was working straight from the Master Piandao School Of Swordsmanship, and even she wasn't going to argue with the actual most dangerous mortal alive.

Still. This wasn't exactly her strong suit.

"There," she said, after she was pretty sure it was as good as it was going to get. Sokka sat up with a start, and accepted the offered paper.

When he looked at it, he did a double-take.

"You… wrote an essay?" he said, looking fantastically lost.

Mai shrugged. "I can't draw."

Sokka nodded, as though this was a perfectly reasonable answer, but his brow furrowed as he read.

"Uh… 'there's a lot of wide open space right above the canyon NO HANDRAILS OBVIOUSLY which you'd think would let the breeze in and that's because it does. But I guess airbenders didn't mind about that sort of thing DOES THAT MEAN FIREBENDERS WOULD BE HAPPY LIVING IN A VOLCANO BECAUSE I KNOW FOR A FACT SEVERAL PEOPLE IN THE CALDERA WERE MISERABLE anyway there's a pile of rubble to the left somewhere because I guess dead air nomads aren't all that big on keeping the place tidy WHY WERE THEY CALLED NOMADS ANYWAY WHEN THEY ALL LIVED IN GIANT MOUNTAIN FORTRESSES'."

Mai looked at him, blankly. "Something wrong?"

Sokka's voice came from somewhere far away. "This might actually be the most beautiful thing I've ever read. Full marks," he concluded, nodding weakly. "But I'd suggest making sure Aang never ever reads this, okay?"

Mai should have known it was all going too well.

They were all gathering around the fire for dinner one evening. Sokka was already sitting, having been in charge of the food, and Mai was idly considering how to make her approach when Zuko swept past her, not sparing her a glance before he settled down. Right next to Sokka. Closer than could possibly be considered casual. And then locked eyes with her, and _smirked_.

Mai had to say this for her Prince. When he did something stupid, he did it quickly, decisively, and with great care to leave himself absolutely no way to back out of it in a hurry.

" _So_... " Zuko began, and Mai almost visibly winced at how obvious he was being, "Sokka, how's your day been?"

Sokka gave a shrug. "Spent most of this morning consumed by the nagging feeling that we're hiding out in the first place I'd look if I was hunting Aang, and the fact that nobody's attacked us since that mercenary you hired didn't calm me down at all. I did some hunting up in the jungle after lunch."

Zuko blinked, slightly put off. "Uh... now you mention it that is kind of worrying."

"I live to spread it around. Here's your soup," Sokka said primly, handing Zuko a bowl as Toph swaggered in. Zuko took his food and sat back, looking like he wasn't sure what had just happened.

Mai held in a grin. This was going to be _fantastic_.

The training sword was a familiar weight in her hands by now, and as she set her shoulders Sokka flashed her a grin. She responded with a mathematically-insignificant smirk.

She had a plan, this time. As he circled around, waiting for her to make the first move, she let go of her sword with her left hand and let it flick out in front of her.

The knife sailed cleanly through the air and pinned Sokka to the wall by the scruff of his collar. As he twisted, trying to wrestle out of it, she surged forward, and brought her sword down to rest gently on his neck.

He froze. She smirked.

"I win," she declared. His face broke into a smile.

"Yep! It looks like I'm pretty convincingly dead over here. Good job!"

Oh. Yeah. She let the sword drop, and pulled the knife from the mortar, freeing Sokka, who rubbed ruefully at his collar.

He stopped short when he saw her face.

"Uh… Mai? Something wrong?"

And just how was she supposed to answer _that_? 'I just realised you're expecting me to kill people, and I feel like an idiot for not putting that together sooner?' 'I didn't think you were taking this so seriously?' 'I'm suddenly not sure about any of this?' For not the first time, she found herself aching for the surety of two months ago, when she had known who she was and what was expected of her.

A single letter had been all it took to put paid to that, though.

She turned away, or started to, but he touched her hand, feather-light, and the jolt stopped her dead.

"Mai," he said, in a tone she'd only heard him use at the Boiling Rock. "Are you okay?"

"I'm thirsty," she growled, shaking herself free of him. As she stalked over to the water, though, he followed, keeping a deliberate distance between them.

"Okay. Mind if I guess what else is going on, though?"

She shrugged, indicating that he could do whatever he liked.

"You don't want to kill anyone."

She dared to glower. "That going to be a problem?"

He shrugged, easily. "As long as you get through this alive, I really don't care how you do it. I've had to kill people because I think it was the only way to stop them killing me. If you don't have to do that, I'm all for it. You'll probably sleep better."

That _sounded_ good, but she wasn't sure she believed it. "I've heard you arguing with Aang."

He winced. "That's… different. No, really, it is!" he protested, when he saw her expression. "Look, I know it's not fun, and maybe it's better that Zuko doesn't hear me say this, but I don't see any way this war ends while the Fire Lord is still alive. And, you know, _someone's_ got to do it. I'd volunteer in a second but I don't see that matchup working out in my favour, you know?"

Mai considered this.

"So… you're okay with perverting the heavenly institution of the Avatar for your own convenience, but I get a free pass because I got squeamish?"

Sokka shrugged. "That's about the size of it."

Mai hid a smile behind her hand. "Makes sense I guess."

Mai wasn't worried, but she hadn't got this far by being careless, if you didn't count the Boiling Rock. So when Sokka and Zuko vanished at the same time, she decided it would be prudent to keep an eye on the competition.

She wondered, as she settled into the shadows, if she should be concerned that she was spending so much of her time spying on Sokka.

The two of them were lounging by the fountain, Zuko with his back propped up against a bit of rubble, Sokka with his legs folded underneath him, sitting on the flagstones.

"So," Zuko sighed, "it's a nice day."

Mai was pleased to see Zuko's social graces were as sharp as ever. But Sokka seemed determined to worry her.

"Zuko," he said, with surprising finality. "You don't have to do this."

Zuko looked harried. "I… don't?"

"I know what you should be doing now, and so do you," Sokka insisted, to Mai's steadily mounting alarm, and stood up, directly facing Zuko, turned so she couldn't see his face.

"You- you do?" Zuko seemed on the verge of panic. " _I_ do?"

"Yeah. And the thing you shouldn't be doing is hiding like this. It's just going to make things harder in the long run."

"I guess I never th- wait, what?"

"You need to talk to her," Sokka said, proving once and for all that he existed solely to make Mai uncomfortable. "You're never going to move on with your lives if you keep doing this."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zuko said, prickling.

Sokka sighed. "This feels wrong without my beard," he mumbled, bafflingly, before continuing. "Zuko I haven't seen you or Mai say three words to each other since the Boiling Rock. I _know_ you miss her, it's so obvious _Aang_ 's picked up on it, and I'm pretty sure she misses you too."

Mai wasn't sure at all what she had done to give him that impression, but whatever it was she was going to gouge it out of herself with the first sharp implement she could get her hands on.

"I-" Zuko started, but sagged. "It's not that simple. I don't know if I can make it up to her. I'm not good at this kind of thing."

Sokka seemed to think, for a moment.

"Okay. This is about the infamous letter, isn't it?"

Zuko had the decency to wince. "Yeah."

Sokka shrugged. "So, let's go through this."

"Why are you _doing_ this?" Zuko nearly wailed, and, in spite of herself, Mai agreed with him.

"Because it's seriously messing up group cohesion to have two of our best fighters not able to look at each other without making excuses and leaving the room," Sokka explained, in an exasperated tone. "That kind of thing really puts a damper on our chances of living through the next week."

Zuko looked puzzled. "What's happening next week?"

"I have _no idea_. Which is the point. So, the letter."

Zuko sighed. "I broke up with her."

"In a letter," Sokka said, with what Mai considered a completely unacceptable lack of judgement in his voice.

"Yes."

"Let's break it down. Why did you break up with her?"

Zuko slumped. Mai realised with a horrified start that there was no way for her to get out without revealing herself. She was going to have to sit through all of this.

"Because I thought it'd keep her safe," he said, sighing softly. "I knew I was going to leave, and I didn't want her to get mixed up in all this. For all the good that did."

Sokka nodded like this was anything like a satisfactory answer. "Okay. So, next question. Why a letter? Was it a time thing? I have noticed you're pretty spur-of-the-moment."

"I… want to say yes. But… I was afraid she'd talk me out of it. Or I wouldn't be able to talk her out of coming with me."

Sokka nodded. "Either way, do you see the problem here?"

Zuko nodded, looking, finally, properly wretched, and almost contrite enough even for Mai.

"I should have talked to her. I know I can be kind of- I'm not good at listening to people."

Sokka nodded, clearly pleased. "There you go! We all goof sometimes; remind me to tell you about the first time I went to Kyoshi Island. But the important part isn't realising you've messed up, it's going back and apologising for goofing. She's probably pretty hurt, and I'm not saying she's not going to be angry, but you've gotta do it, buddy."

Mai found herself almost nodding along with Zuko.

"Okay!" Sokka said, indicating that the ordeal was now over. "I've got stuff to do, I'll see you at dinner?"

"Wait," Zuko said, looking up. "Why did you _really_ do this?"

Sokka raised his eyebrow. "Are you doubting my commitment to living through the week?"

"Sokka."

Sokka sighed. "You're not gonna make me say it, are you?"

"Sokka. You just made _me_ say a _lot_ worse."

Sokka sighed in mock-frustration. " _Fiiine_. You've got three faces, Zuko, and out of all of them I much prefer Confused But Happy to Confused But Angry or Confused But Sad."

Zuko laughed, small but bright. "Alright. I'll see you later."

As Sokka walked towards the door, Mai could have sworn he looked directly at where she was hiding, and grinned.

A lot happened in a very short space of time. Azula showed up to chase everyone away, like Sokka had predicted she would, and no sooner had everyone settled down on Ember Island (why did it have to be Ember Island again?) Katara and Zuko had decided to go off on some imbecilic revenge quest.

And now Sokka had wandered off into the hills with the lemur. And Mai had heard what his sister had said to him.

She found him slouched under a tree inland, idly flicking peanuts to the lemur, who scrabbled for them in the grass.

"Hey," she said, her legs folding under her as she sat next to him.

He looked up, and smiled, but she could tell he was trying for her benefit.

"So," she said, her reserves of subtlety depleted, "I heard what Katara said to you. Would it help to know I kind of feel like stabbing her right now?"

Sokka snorted, mildly, his eyes briefly closing. "Thanks, but right now I'm trying not to think about Katara getting stabbed. I mean, she's only gone off to attack basically an entire navy base with just her and Zuko. It makes me worry."

This was not helping keep Mai's growing desire to injure Katara in check.

"Besides," Sokka said, doing a pretty passable job of not looking like he wanted to cry, "she's probably right."

Mai, in a fit of sudden bravery, laid a hand on top of his. His eyes widened, and he smiled, just for a moment, before letting his fingers thread between hers.

"I don't… remember what she looked like," he said, like he'd rehearsed it. "My mother. I was older than Katara but I don't remember things from back then as clearly. I think I get why, now."

Her fingers tightened around his, slightly, and he sighed.

"Katara's better at being angry than I am. I can't bottle it up like she can, can't use it like she does. Katara gets angry, but I just get scared."

He smiled, self-deprecating, but Mai's mind drifted back to the sight of the boy on the gondola, squaring off against Azula, to the boy on the riverbank, standing his ground.

"I don't know," she murmured, pulling him closer. "You seem pretty brave to me."

And she kissed him. He sighed in soft surprise, but returned the kiss, his hand reaching up to trace the line of her jaw, until the lemur screeched and leapt into her lap and he jumped back in shock and Mai had never come closer to murdering an animal than she had in that exact moment.

The shards of the moment hung between them, until Sokka started to laugh.

"Thanks, Momo," he said, picking the lemur out of her clothing while she did her best to not accidentally throttle it. "Your timing is incredible, buddy."

She couldn't help but smile at him, the way he coughed and tried to collect himself.

"Oh!" he said, suddenly leaning over to one side, and grabbing something from behind the tree. "I forgot. I picked something up for you in town."

"Hmm," Mai said, letting the amusement show. "Usually you're supposed to bring me gifts first. Unless they do things differently in the Water Tribe."

"Ha ha," Sokka said, sardonically, and pushed something long and slim into her hands.

It was a sword, handle wrapped in black leather, scabbard stained black. When she tugged the blade free, though, it flashed bright silver.

"...Thanks." She smiled, softly.

When Zuko and Katara returned, Mai couldn't help but scowl. Fortunately, she always looked kind of like that, so it passed more or less unnoticed.

She noticed the way Katara held herself around her brother, aware that she should apologise but not sure where to start. Sokka, for his part, threw his arms around Katara and congratulated her on not being dead.

He didn't ask her about how her mission went, and Mai felt a vicious stab of satisfaction out of how uncomfortable she looked.

Zuko, though… it didn't take long for even Zuko to notice the glances Sokka kept shooting Mai's way, or the way she occasionally forgot not to smile.

Zuko retired to his tent early that evening, defeat heavy around his shoulders. Mai couldn't pretend it didn't sting more than she'd expected. It had to be this stupid island or Zuko's stupid idiot nobility but she'd felt it all coming back in a rush, the urge to go to him, to _touch_ him, to shake him out of himself until all his bottled hurt fell out.

What had surprised her, though, was looking at Sokka and seeing understanding roll across his face.

They didn't talk about it, even later, after the fire had burned out and everyone should have been asleep. But it did ease something growing in her chest, to think that she might just have a co-conspirator.

The play had been Aang's idea, and if it was representative of all his ideas Mai was beginning to understand why he tried to avoid responsibility at all costs.

Still, the effects _had_ been nice, and she'd got a nice third-act role as 'a perfidious saboteur'. Which was pretty catchy.

After everyone had had their fill of complaining about the dramatics, most of the motley collection of teenagers Aang had collected headed to bed. Only Sokka, Mai, and Zuko stayed up, sitting around the fire on the beach, passing around a bottle of something.

"Y'know," Mai said, "I didn't get that thing with the moon lady." Too late, she saw Zuko's eyes widening.

Sokka, though, just waved to the sky. "Yue. First girlfriend. Turned into the moon."

Oh. So that had all been literal then. She'd thought it was some kind of extended metaphor.

"Huh." She peered heavenwards. "So that's what I've got to live up to, huh?"

Zuko winced, but Sokka slung an arm across her shoulders, and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Nah. Don't worry. Although apparently she has shown up to see Aang a couple of times, not sure what _that's_ about…" He cut himself off by realising he was still holding the bottle, and taking a swig.

Zuko coughed, awkwardly, and made to stand. Sokka snatched at his ankle almost at the same time as Mai grabbed his hand.

"Nuh-uh," Sokka said, firmly. "Hang out for a while."

Zuko paused, before nodding mutely, and letting himself be pulled back down onto the sand.

"Okay. Now that you mention it, Mai… there's something I need to tell you."

Oh no, Mai realised, blearily. He was going to apologise _now_. This was _absolutely not the_ -

"I just want to say," Zuko continued, doggedly, "that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that, and it was wrong of me to not talk things through with you. I hope you can forgive me, and we can be-" the words hitched in his throat "friends again. I miss you."

 _Oh._ "Oh Zuko," she said, "that's extremely sweet. And you're an idiot, and I need you to do something for me. Hold still."

She surged forward, ending up with hands splayed across Zuko's chest, and kissed him with enough force to push him back onto his elbows.

It took Zuko four full seconds to work out why he shouldn't kiss back, but by then Mai had pulled back, and Sokka's large hand had snaked around his torso to lay on top of Mai's.

"Hey," he breathed into Zuko's ear, one part drunken relaxation to two parts less conditional relaxation.

"Kiss him," Mai ordered, with a sudden insistence.

"Wha'?" Zuko murmured, thoroughly lost, as Sokka gave a languid thumbs up.

"Kiss him, kiss him, _kiss him_ ," Mai hissed, an insistent mantra.

It was in fact Sokka who took the lead, shifting around so Zuko didn't have to crane his neck, before Mai decided now was a _fantastic_ time to wedge herself between them. Zuko's eyes shone as Sokka came up for air, full of wonder and only a little complete bewilderment.

"I made up my mind," Mai explained. "I decided 'who cares'."

"Neat," Zuko mumbled, still somewhat dazed.

Sokka muttered indistinctly into the tip of Mai's spine.

"We are gonna be _so good_ at teamwork."


End file.
